Our Story
by undertheaegisof
Summary: You never know when you'll meet the person with whom you'll spend the rest of your life. For me it was when I was in the second grade. Disclaimer: I do not own anything Hunger Games. I merely right the story using the wonderful characters created by Ms. Collins.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

You never know when you'll meet the person with whom you'll spend the rest of your life. For me it was when I was in the second grade.

In second grade I found myself starting at a private school. Being that it was the 90s we wore these awful sailor shirts and navy pants for uniforms. My blonde hair was cut short, the result of a bad attempt to cut my own hair.

That year I was in a grade two and three split class. My older cousin Gale was in grade three that year. Not that it mattered because he did his best to ignore me. He only hung out with his friends and wouldn't acknowledge his cousin who was a girl. After all I was younger and since I was a girl I had cooties. Fraternizing with me was an absolute no. He surrounded himself with grade three boys like Brutus, Gloss, and Marvel, as well as two identical blonde haired, blue eyed twins named Peeta and Rye.

That is where I first met Peeta Mellark.

…:::…

After grade two and three our classes were split and I wouldn't think about Peeta Mellark again for years to come.

…:::…

I heard that his parents got divorced shortly after. But I knew nothing else of his life.

At the end of grade five I begged my mom to home school me. I had no friends at school. No one liked me. Apparently I was mean.

I wouldn't see him again till grade six.

Gale, who lived next door, had his birthday party that year. Peeta and Rye were invited of course.

That day I spent with Madge, our other next-door neighbor. That day I developed a crush on Peeta Mellark. Foolishly I told Madge who screamed it to the neighborhood and I was mortified. Not that anyone heard her; no one was close enough to understand her hollering. But still my cheeks flamed red and I scolded her profusely.

Within days I had forgotten Peeta Mellark and my feelings for him once more.

…:::…

As I grew older my hair darkened to a dirty blonde and then to brown. My mother said hers had done the same as she grew up. Except hers remained a dirty blonde. I was born with black hair which had lightened to a nearly bleach blonde but was now darkening again to a nice mahogany brown. Mom says it is a strange family trait.

The next time I saw him was grade nine. He started coming around our youth group once again. He and Rye quickly fell in with my group of friends but I still never got to know Peeta Mellark. We were distant friends at best. My good friend at the time, Clove, began dating Rye Mellark. It seemed to work at first. But soon they fell in to bickering constantly and only they couldn't see how dysfunctional their relationship was.

At the time I was too enamored with a boy named Cato. My foolish young mind thought I had it all. That I had found the one. I was fifteen and I thought I knew what love was. However I couldn't have been more wrong. Cato didn't value any of my opinions. If I didn't agree with him he brushed me off completely. He didn't like my personality and was always hinting, very subtly, that I should change. As well he had a crippling self-esteem issue that he seemed to expect me to fix. It was crushing me but I didn't know how to get out.

In grade ten Peeta and I connected. It was during a youth event, on the bus home to be exact. The seat next to him was the only one available so I took it. Clove and Glimmer were the girls I thought of as my best friends—how foolish I was. They always excluded me just as they did tonight. There was no room to sit with them on their bus seat. So I took the empty seat.

Peeta and I got too talking. The conversation quickly turned from simple small talk to truly deep conversation. He listened as I told him how I felt so inadequate. How Glimmer and Clove made me feel as if I couldn't be trusted with their secrets. That is why they always chose to whisper just the two of them. High school was such a petty time.

We exchanged phone numbers that night and from then on we would text constantly. Quickly we became best friends. He told me about the pain he still felt from his parents divorce. I told him about my father's drinking. He told me that he secretly cuts himself. This shocked me because I had always thought of Peeta as an extraordinarily happy person. I told him of my anger and how my family fought often. He told me about how he struggled to try and separate his identity from Rye's. Apparently being identical twins leads people to think of you as the same person. I told him about my relationship with Cato, which was increasingly toxic.

We didn't always talk about such heavy things. We talked about our favorite things. We found out we had a lot in common. He told me about his love for building models and painting them. Which surprised me because he had such large hands, ones that I wouldn't peg for being steady enough for such precision. We talked about everything. I realized quickly that we had become best friends.

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><p><strong>AN: I get married one week from today! In honor of my upcoming marriage I thought I'd throw up another short story. I hope you like it! There will be a few more chapters that I'll post over the next little while.**

**Read and review! Let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

My relationship with Cato continued. I was too much of a coward to break it off.

But at the same time my friendship with Peeta grew exponentially. We soon entered into best friend territory. He was always there for me. Whenever Cato and I were having problems and I would end up crying I could always talk to him about it. Cato didn't like it and tried to tell me that I couldn't be friends with Peeta anymore. Of course being as stubborn as I am I refused to allow him that control over my life.

Looking back I can see that some of my actions may have not been acceptable within the fact that I was in a relationship with Cato. Peeta would often drive me home after hangouts with our friends. I lived about twenty minutes out of town and no one wanted to drive me home. Except Peeta he was always happy to drive me home. And sometimes after we'd get to my house we would sit and talk for hours. My parents warned me that it might seem inappropriate to others, especially Cato. "But we were just friends!" My sixteen year old mind rationed. "Nothing is going to happen. We're just friends." And maybe nothing really happened but my feelings changed during these times. From having a friend like Peeta who cared so genuinely and cared for me in a way that Cato never did.

I'm ashamed to say that when I broke up with Cato I was an even bigger coward than I've ever been. The first time I tried he told me no. He said we weren't breaking up and that we would just keep trying. So the next time, when I knew for sure that I wanted out I talked to his older brother. I asked him to try and talk to Cato. He said he would. The next time I talked to him he agreed that we wanted different things out of this relationship. I never regretted that decision.

Peeta asked me to be his date to graduation. "I want my best friend there with me." He'd asked with that gentle smile that I loved so much. Of course I went. I bought myself a pretty red dress that complimented my skin tone so well. I even stepped out of my comfort zone wearing strappy black heels.

The months passed and my friendship with Peeta grew stronger…and more flirtatious. When we'd watch movies I'd find myself cuddled next to him, molding with the curve of his body and his arms wrapped around me. His text messages also started to carry with them hints of a different interest than friendship.

In the middle of August, the weeks of summer looming over our heads, Peeta was the first to comment on the change in our friendship.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm getting mixed signals from you." He commented innocently enough one day while a large group of us were watching a movie at Glimmer's house. "How do you feel about me?"

I forced a strained laugh and replied, "You're my best friend! Of course I don't see you romantically at all!" Part of me panicked when he asked and of course instead of telling him of my budding feelings for him I insisted that I felt nothing for him other than friendship. I felt guilty immediately.

When I told Glimmer and Clove they both agreed that I was a complete idiot. Not that I needed them to tell me that. I already knew.

I had feelings for him. I knew it. They knew it. I'm pretty sure everyone had a feeling about it.

But I just didn't want Peeta to know about it. All summer I'd heard him gripe and complain that he hated when his female friends developed crushes on him. He hated hurting their feelings and causing them pain but he never returned their feelings. The one thing Peeta hated above all else was causing others pain.

I knew that I'd fallen into that same boat, just like all his other friends. I couldn't bear the thought of losing his friendship if I told him how I felt. I rationalized my decision by saying that he was flirtatious with all his friends; his actions and comments towards me were nothing special. And to some degree that was true. He was a naturally flirtatious person. It had nothing to do with me; I was just his best friend. He'd never see me as anything more. And part of me was okay with that. I didn't really want to date right then, I'd only recently broke up with Cato. And Peeta wasn't looking for a relationship either; he had already sworn that he wasn't going to date for the next few months anyways. I knew that nothing could come of my feelings for him.

But I still felt guilty. I hated lying to Peeta like that. We'd never lied to each other. Our friendship was built entirely on being completely open and honest with each other. I felt like I'd installed an enormous barrier between us and our friendship began to feel stilted and awkward.

Finally, at the end of August, I decided I had to tell him. But I knew I could never do it face to face. I wrote him a note, a long note. I told him how I felt. Why I'd lied to him. I planned to give it to him at the Sunday barbecue the local church was holding. I figured it was the best time. I could easily give it to him and then disappear. And seeing how my family was going camping for the entire next week and I wouldn't have to see him if he rejected me.

So that's what I did. I gave him the letter and in my traditional awkward manner said in a rushed voice "I needed to tell you something. So I wrote it down. You might not see me for a while. Bye." Then I turned and ran away. Glimmer and Clove found me hiding and agreed that it was the right thing to do. Looking back though I can see what a pathetic coward I was, Peeta would never hurt me but I was too afraid of rejection. I can only shake my head at my sixteen-year-old self.

When Peeta approached me later that day my gut was twisted with nerves. I seriously considered turning around and walking the other way but something held me in place.

"Katniss." His voice was gentle and soothing, as usual. "Can we talk? Please?"

I nodded and followed him outside and around the building.

When he finally stopped he was quiet. I shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"Katniss." I could already feel my heart breaking. "I want to. I really do. I care about you so much, more than you know. And I do want to be with you but I can't right now. I promised myself I wouldn't date for a while. I just need time. Can I ask that of you?"

I forced a smile and even though it hurt, I agreed.

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry it took me so long to update. Life has been crazy! I hope you guys like the chapter. Read and review. Let me know what you think! I love to hear from you. **


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